Iraqi Minister Blames U.s. For Food Shortage, Deaths

OTHER NEWS TO NOTE - The World

June 2, 1997

BAGHDAD, IRAQ — Less than a third of the food expected under a U.N.-approved deal has reached Iraq and 30,000 children have died of poor nutrition or lack of medicine this year, Iraq's trade minister said Sunday. He blamed the United States. Iraq has been under U.N. sanctions since 1990, when it invaded Kuwait and spurred the United States and other countries to send troops into the Persian Gulf. The United Nations in December gave Iraq permission to sell $2 billion in oil over six months to buy needed food and medicine.